


In Black and Gold

by VespidaeQueen



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Super Villains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-19
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-13 02:32:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1209508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VespidaeQueen/pseuds/VespidaeQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Oh, Captain,” she says. “Really, you should be more careful. My stings can take down a building if that’s what I want to do.”</p><p>In which Janet van Dyne is a fashion designer by day and a villain by night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Black and Gold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [suddenlycomics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/suddenlycomics/gifts).



> Written for SuddenlyComics's prompt: "AU where Jan is fashion business woman by day and villain by night and Steve is trying to figure out who this mysterious villain is?"

Steve isn’t one to keep up with fashion, but even he has heard of the designer label  _Van Dyne._  His one suit happens to be from that label, custom fit and tailored and  _entirely_  unnecessary when he has his dress uniform he could wear, but he had been convinced to get it for  _undercover_  reasons, though he’s not entirely certain it wasn’t just because Clint wanted to see him in a three piece suit.

Still, he forgets often enough, because he’s out there saving the world, he doesn’t particularly have time to pay attention to clothing labels.

***

His first run-in with the Wasp is incredibly memorable, despite him not seeing her at all. One moment he is standing there, ready for a fight, the next - 

The next he is on the ground with the worst headache he has had in a long time.

"Oh, darling, I am  _so sorry_ ,” he hears someone say close to his ear. “I guess even a super soldier can’t stand up to a wasp’s sting. Don’t worry, I didn’t hit you  _too_  hard. You might have a bit of vertigo for awhile, though.”

He bats his hand near his ear, vision swimming, and her laughter is the last thing he hears.

An entire harddrive of blueprints is downloaded and stolen while he is unconscious.

***

"Steve, I’ve got someone for you to meet."

Steve turns, a champagne flute held in his hand. These sort of functions - charity galas - aren’t really his thing. There is a air of excess to them that cannot be offset by the fact that they are supposed to be for charity, and he feels entirely out of place even while wearing his expensive suit.

Pepper Potts is smiling at him, and on her arm is a gorgeous woman dressed in black and gold.

"Steve, this is Janet. Janet, Steve Rogers. I told you all about him earlier."

"Oh,  _yes_.” Janet smiles at him with ruby red lips. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Captain Rogers. But no one told me you wear my suits  _so well_.”

Steve blinks as he extends a hand to shake hers. “Your suits?”

"You’re wearing one of them," she says, taking his hand in her own while inclining her head towards him. "Pepper neglected to tell you my  _full_  name. I’m Janet van Dyne.”

It takes him a moment for the name to click. “Oh. Well. I have to say, you have very nice clothing, ma’am.”

She smiles at him, then turns to Pepper, and Steve can see that that back of her dress plunges very low.

***

The second time he meets the Wasp, he’s nearly electrocuted. The room unexpectedly goes up in electricity that crackles off the walls, blowing out the windows. He takes cover behind his shield, and when he looks up, there’s a woman sitting on the overturned table. She is perhaps a foot tall, dressed in black and gold, her head covered in a helmet with large goggles that he cannot see through. Small insect wings sprout from her back, and he thinks they are real.

"Oh,  _Captain_ ,” she says. “Really, you should be more careful. My stings can take down a building if that’s what I want to do.”

"Ma’am, if you’re planning on taking down this building, then I’m obligated to stop you."

"Hmmm." She taps a gloved finger against her lips. "Well, that  _wasn’t_  my plan, but I am very tempted to see you  _try_   to stop me. I’m very impressed by how you move, Captain. I think you’d be very fun to dance with.”

"Dancing doesn’t have anything to do with it." He throws his shield, but she is gone before it can hit her, in flight. Her sting knocks his shield from the air.

"Next time, then," she says, and for the briefest moment she lands on his head before somersaulting off. "I don’t have time for it  _now_. Villianous things to do, you know. But next time for certain.”

***

"I don’t think it was just a random break in," Janet tells Clint, who is listening to her very intently. Her eyes are red and she looks very distraught. "That’s why I called Tony."

"Tony?" Steve asks, brows furrowed. "Look, ma’am, I appreciate that you have a friendship with him, but I hardly think that calling the Avengers in when a design studio is broken into -"

"Captain Rogers, you don’t know everything that Van Dyne Corporate does, do you?" She’s looking at him like he doesn’t have any idea at all, and in truth, he doesn’t. After the gala, he  _had_ been tempted to look into her company, but there’s something disingenuous about using the internet to look up someone when the reason is because you found them incredibly attractive.

"No, ma’am. I was under the impression that you are in the fashion industry."

"I  _am_. But my company is broader than that. My father was a physicist, Captain Rogers, and Van Dyne Corporate includes not only my own company - the fashion side of things, if you will - but also an experimental technologies division. That suit you’re wearing? We designed that material. It’s very durable and bulletproof, as you most likely know.” She looks at him, her jaw tight. “We have a contract with SHIELD. Tony Stark isn’t the only one who’s technologies are used by superheroes, you know.”

Steve is quiet for a moment, eyes locked with hers. “So you think the break in was tied to these experimental technologies.”

"Oh,  _yes._  You can see why I called you in. Why, if someone were to get hold of our designs, they would know all the weaknesses to, well,  _all_  of our products. Everything has a weakness, Captain Rogers,” she says, and if the comment seems pointed, he isn’t quite certain why.

***

The third time they meet, Steve surprises her. He cuts her off with her shield, and when she turns, what is exposed of her face shows shock.

"Why,  _Captain_. I should have expected you.”

"Yes, you should have." He catches his shield, replacing it on his arm. "I’ve been tracking you, Ms Wasp, though you’re a hard one to pin down."

"So I’ve been told." The shock melts away and that infuriating smile is back. "I  _am s_ orry, but I am quite busy tonight. You’ll have to pin me down later.”

Steve is fairly certain there was innuendo in that, and he’s not quite sure how he feels about it. He swallows.

"Even after I tracked you down for a dance?"

The Wasp’s mouth opens slight, and then her smile grows. “Why, that is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” she says, and drops into a defensive stance as he moves towards her.

He had not expected her to be as good at hand to hand combat as she is.

He’s stronger than her, that is for certain, but she is light on her feet and has a solid stance. She’s able to move with his punches, and while he manages to get in a few blows, so does she. More often than not, she’s simply  _not there_  and their fight really  _does_  become a dance.

But then she makes a mistake, or rather he anticipates her move, and then next moment they both go crashing to the ground. He knocks the air out of her, traps her, and she gives a gasp of surprise.

"Well," she says, and licks her lips. His face is only inches from her. "I guess you’ve pinned me much earlier than I planned."

"You were planning this?" He’s got her wrists caught in his hands. "You know I’m going to have to bring you in. SHIELD isn’t very happy with you."

She laughs, though she is still breathless. “Captain, I don’t think you’ve been trying hard enough if you  _really_  wanted to bring me in.”

"Haven’t I?"

“ _Nope_.” Her nose touches his for just a moment, their lips inches apart, and then she vanishes, shrinking so fast that he has no idea where she’s gone.

“ _Thanks for the dance, Captain,_ " he hears, and then she is gone.


End file.
